Paper Hearts
by Desuke-Love
Summary: He didn't know what he was thinking asking Kyouya to help him with his homework. But Kaoru learns a lot more than he ever could from a textbook. He just has to look deeper... One-shot!


**Heeey fellow fanficers! I was bored and feeling uninspired as far as Reid Between the Lines (my Criminal Minds multi-chapter) went, so I decided to write a KyouyaxKaoru one shot! I LOVE this pairing sooo much, it is the cutest thing ever! I won't give too much away, so I shall let you commence with reading 'Paper Hearts'. Enjoy! ^_^**

Kyouya closed his notebook, sensing someone's presence. He looked up to see Hitachiin Kaoru standing bashfully before him.

"Kaoru. Can I help you?"

"Erm... I was... n-never mind."

"No, tell me."

Kaoru rubbed the back of his head.

"I was wondering if you could maybe... help me with my math homework?"

Kyouya would have raised an eyebrow, had he been a fan of facial expressions of course, at the remark.

"Doesn't Hikaru usually help you with math?"

Kaoru blushed. "Well, yeah, except... we sort of had a fight."

This time, Kyouya did raise an eyebrow, elegantly and effortlessly. The twins never fought.

There was, of course, the fake fight they staged to trick Haruhi into inviting them over to her house, but he was an Ootori; of course he knew the fight was fake. But Kyouya could see no such trick here, just a genuine pain in the eyes of the youngest Hitachiin.

"Alright then. When is this homework due?"

"Tomorrow."

"Then I'll come to your house when school ends and help you. Is that alright?"

"Erm, yeah." Kaoru turned away then turned back again. "Thanks Senpai."

Kaoru couldn't believe that he'd mustered up the courage to even ask for Kyouya's help, let alone that he had said _yes_. He briefly wondered how helping him with some math homework could possibly be beneficial to Kyouya, but Kaoru pushed the thought away. After all, wasn't he always telling Hikaru that the Shadow King couldn't be all bad?

xxx

Much to Kaoru's embarrassment, the homework wasn't all that difficult. The second Kyouya started to explain it, he wondered why he couldn't do it in the first place. Admittedly, some of them were pretty tough. 'The diagram shows a semicircle _ABC _on _AC _as diameter. The mid-point of _AC _is _O_, and angle _AOB __q _radians, where _q p _2 1 0 . The area of the segment _S_1 bounded by the chord _BC _is twice the area of the segment _S_2 bounded by the chord _AB_. Show that 3_q __p _sin _q_'. When the heck was he going to use something like that?

_(A.N – I found this on the internet, and all I can say is WTF?)_

"You seem to understand it perfectly," Kyouya said, after watching Kaoru work out a few equations (_is that what they are?_)

"Oh, erm, yeah, I... I guess I just needed a little shove in the right direction. Sorry if I've wasted your time Senpai."

"It's perfectly alright Kaoru," Kyouya shrugged, tapping his fingers on the Notebook of Impending Doom. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What exactly did you and Hikaru fight about?"

Kaoru sighed. "Haruhi. He's mad at me because I encouraged him to go for it and he ended up with a broken heart."

"That's hardly your fault," Kyouya reasoned. Kaoru shrugged.

"He's hurting." _But he didn't have to say those things _he thought to himself.

"It looks to me like he hurt you."

Nothing got past Ootori Kyouya after all.

"I'm fine Senpai." He paused. "What's in that notebook?"

"Do you really think I'm going to show you?"

"Good point," Kaoru smiled. It seemed like a genuine smile, but Kyouya could see that Kaoru wasn't really happy at all.

"Why did you and Hikaru decide to join the Host Club?" Kyouya suddenly asked. Kaoru thought for a moment.

"Well, after Milord kept pestering us, I guess we kind of warmed to the idea of branching out a little. Our biggest fear was rejection really, and it didn't look like we had to worry about that with the Host Club, so we decided to give it a try."

Kyouya nodded.

"What about you? What made you go along with the idea of a Host Club in the first place?"

"Good financial practise."

"I don't believe that," Kaoru smirked.

"I wanted to shut Tamaki up."

Kaoru laughed. "Better, but I still don't buy it."

"Alright then, why do you think I agreed to go along with it?" Kyouya challenged. Kaoru thought about it.

"You liked the idea of being fawned over by girls?"

"And what gives you that idea?"

"Makes you feel appreciated?"

Kyouya chuckled. "Believe me, being fawned over by girls is not appealing to me in the slightest."

"Why's that?" Kaoru asked, but he instantly regretted it. That was a personal question after all, and Kyouya did not do personal.

"Have I done this one right?" he asked, trying to change the subject from the last question. Kaoru glanced at Kyouya as he looked over the answer. He tried to read his expression, but the light glinting off of his glasses made it impossible.

"Yes," Kyouya answered plainly. "May I use your bathroom?"

"Of course. You know where it is right?"

"Yes."

Kaoru watched Kyouya walk out of the room. He sighed (he'd been sighing a lot today). Then he spotted the notebook still lying on the table. Lying deviously, daring him to open it and take a look. _No, I can't _Kaoru mentally scolded himself. It was Kyouya's private notebook. No one looked in it. No one even _touched_ it! And yet, the temptation proved too strong, and Kaoru found himself sliding the notebook closer to him. He flicked through the pages until he got to the last thing that Kyouya had written.

_**Paper hearts**_

_Your face is in my mind all the time _

_And I don't know how I've mastered the art of pretending __my heart doesn't leap whenever I see you_

_Years of practise can do wonders_

_I wonder_

_If you've ever wondered _

_Stuck in your own little world _

'_Perhaps there's something more there? _

_Perhaps he's not all he seems?'_

_I can't let it hurt _

_My heart is only made of paper after all_

_And paper doesn't hold up well soaked in tears_

_There are things I want to say _

_And sometimes, I want to scream 'I love you' _

_But I can't _

_So I hide_

_There are things I'll never say _

_So these things you'll never know _

_Written all over my heart_

_But you'll never see_

_Paper hearts aren't all that strong _

_And my soul's not all that cold _

_But you'll never even know_

_Because paper hearts don't hold up well _

_Soaked in tears_

Kaoru reached the end of the poem in disbelief. Kyouya wrote poetry? Beautiful poetry. It wasn't until he touched his cheek and felt that it was wet that he even realised he was crying. The cold, emotionless Shadow King feeling such things touched Kaoru, especially since he knew all too well how it felt to have to hide your heart.

_(A.N – this poem is mine =] . I personally don't view it as beautiful, I, like most writers, don't think too highly of my work. But, for the sake of this fanfic, let's assume that the poem is beautiful :-) lol)_

"What are you doing?"

Kaoru spun round to see Kyouya standing behind him. He snatched the notebook from the young red-head, anger radiating from his onyx eyes.

"I leave this in here because I trust that you would not disrespect my privacy by reading it," he fumed through gritted teeth.

"Senpai, I..."

"What do you think gives you the right to snoop in other peoples belongings?"

"I... I'm sorry."

"But you still did it!"

Kyouya picked up his bag and made to leave. "And as for those tears, you can dry them. I don't want your pity."

"It's not pity Senpai, I... I know how you feel."

"How could you possibly know how I feel?" Kyouya scoffed.

"I... Kyouya Senpai I... I love you."

Kyouya froze. Had he heard right?

"What did you say?"

Kaoru hung his head. "I love you Senpai. I know it's stupid and I wish I didn't, but I do. That's why Hikaru and I fought. He said that just because I'll always be alone, I wanted him to stay the same way." He blinked back tears. He didn't want Kyouya thinking he was after sympathy. "He said being gay isn't normal. So I know how you feel Senpai. I know what it's like when you can't love someone."

Kyouya didn't know what to say. What could he say?

"Whoever she is, you should tell her. The worst that can happen is that she rejects you. It's better than hiding it inside all your life."

Kyouya took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for reading your notebook Senpai. I had no right. Please forgive me." Kaoru couldn't stop himself from crying anymore. He didn't even notice Kyouya drop his bag and make his way over to him until he was kneeling right in front of him. Kaoru looked up. Kyouya was looking at him, his expression unreadable as usual. He reached his hand out and wiped a few stray tears from Kaoru's cheek.

"S-Senpai?"

"That poem... it wasn't about a girl," Kyouya began hesitantly. "It was... about you."

Kaoru eyes widened. "M-me?"

Kyouya nodded, leaning in closer. Kaoru lent in to meet him. Then their lips touched, and it felt like magic. Like someone had turned the light on, or like a key had turned in the lock to their hearts. The kiss became more passionate and Kyouya pulled Kaoru onto his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist. Kaoru tangled his fingers into Kyouya's midnight hair. They didn't know how long they were kissing, but eventually they broke apart.

"Kaoru. I love you. I've loved you for a long time."

"I've loved you for a long time too Senpai."

Neither said anything else for a while. They just sat in silence, taking in everything that just happened. For two boys who always thought they could never find happiness, they found it in a love they never dreamt they would get.

**Aaaaand that's a wrap! What do you guys think? This is my first Ouran fic, so I hope you like it! I kind of made Hikaru the bad guy... sorry. If it's any consolation, he apologises, finds another girl and they all live happily ever after =] lol. Please review, I really want to know what you think, and whether I should write more Ouran one-shots! Thanks so much for reading! Love you guys! ^_^ xxx **


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